diff --git a/src/nominatim_db/clicmd/index.py b/src/nominatim_db/clicmd/index.py
index f1890a65..2786185f 100644
--- a/src/nominatim_db/clicmd/index.py
+++ b/src/nominatim_db/clicmd/index.py
@@ -64,4 +64,4 @@ class UpdateIndex:
             if not args.boundaries_only:
                 await indexer.index_by_rank(args.minrank, args.maxrank)
                 await indexer.index_postcodes()
-            has_pending = indexer.has_pending()
+            has_pending = indexer.has_pending(args.minrank, args.maxrank)
diff --git a/src/nominatim_db/indexer/indexer.py b/src/nominatim_db/indexer/indexer.py
index 48195328..4e7c831b 100644
--- a/src/nominatim_db/indexer/indexer.py
+++ b/src/nominatim_db/indexer/indexer.py
@@ -31,14 +31,19 @@ class Indexer:
         self.tokenizer = tokenizer
         self.num_threads = num_threads
 
-    def has_pending(self) -> bool:
+    def has_pending(self, minrank: int = 0, maxrank: int = 30) -> bool:
         """ Check if any data still needs indexing.
             This function must only be used after the import has finished.
             Otherwise it will be very expensive.
         """
         with connect(self.dsn) as conn:
             with conn.cursor() as cur:
-                cur.execute("SELECT 'a' FROM placex WHERE indexed_status > 0 LIMIT 1")
+                cur.execute(""" SELECT 'a'
+                                  FROM placex
+                                 WHERE rank_address BETWEEN %s AND %s
+                                   AND indexed_status > 0
+                                 LIMIT 1""",
+                            (minrank, maxrank))
                 return cur.rowcount > 0
 
     async def index_full(self, analyse: bool = True) -> None:
diff --git a/test/python/cli/test_cmd_index.py b/test/python/cli/test_cmd_index.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..01dc80b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/python/cli/test_cmd_index.py
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
+#
+# This file is part of Nominatim. (https://nominatim.org)
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2025 by the Nominatim developer community.
+# For a full list of authors see the git log.
+"""
+Tests for index command of the command-line interface wrapper.
+"""
+import pytest
+
+import nominatim_db.indexer.indexer
+
+
+class TestCliIndexWithDb:
+
+    @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+    def setup_cli_call(self, cli_call, cli_tokenizer_mock):
+        self.call_nominatim = cli_call
+        self.tokenizer_mock = cli_tokenizer_mock
+
+    def test_index_empty_subset(self, monkeypatch, async_mock_func_factory, placex_row):
+        placex_row(rank_address=1, indexed_status=1)
+        placex_row(rank_address=20, indexed_status=1)
+
+        mocks = [
+            async_mock_func_factory(nominatim_db.indexer.indexer.Indexer, 'index_boundaries'),
+            async_mock_func_factory(nominatim_db.indexer.indexer.Indexer, 'index_by_rank'),
+            async_mock_func_factory(nominatim_db.indexer.indexer.Indexer, 'index_postcodes'),
+        ]
+
+        def _reject_repeat_call(*args, **kwargs):
+            assert False, "Did not expect multiple Indexer.has_pending invocations"
+
+        has_pending_calls = [nominatim_db.indexer.indexer.Indexer.has_pending, _reject_repeat_call]
+        monkeypatch.setattr(nominatim_db.indexer.indexer.Indexer, 'has_pending',
+                            lambda *args, **kwargs: has_pending_calls.pop(0)(*args, **kwargs))
+
+        assert self.call_nominatim('index', '--minrank', '5', '--maxrank', '10') == 0
+
+        for mock in mocks:
+            assert mock.called == 1, "Mock '{}' not called".format(mock.func_name)